Existence

I've always enjoyed the little exercise in philosophy where R.C. Sproul proves that God does not exist. Yes, Sproul is a true believer. Yes, he argues that God does not exist. The argument comes from the roots of the word "exist" and the origins of its idea. The word from its Latin origins means most literally ex -- out of -- and stere -- to stand. Plato's belief system argued that there was genuine being and there was the imperfect reflections of it that we see. So, he argued, there is a chair and there is "chairness", the actual being of "chair". The chair was an imperfect representation of the reality. The idea of the word is that there is something and existence is that which stands out of that which is. Since God stands out of nothing but Himself, He does not exist in the most literal use of the word. God is (Exo 3:14), but He is the essence out of which everything else exists -- stands out.

We actually get a little confused about that, in fact. I mean, we intellectually acknowledge that it's true, and then we tend to think of "justice" as something to which God must adhere or "good" as something to which God must align Himself. But if He is and does not technically exist, then things like "justice" and "good" are not things out of which He is, but they exist because of Him. So when we try to say that God appears to fail to align with our sense of good or justice, it's because we're confused about God's existence.

All well and good, but if you think that idea around to our end of it, you should gain a little different perspective ... on you. You see, God does not exist in that most literal use of the word, but you do and I do. That is, you ... stand out of God. Yes, I suppose that sounds a little funny. Let's try it in other terms. Paul told the Athenian philosophers, "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). Or we read, "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together" (Col 1:17). When it says "In Him all things hold together" it demands that outside of Him nothing holds together, nothing consists, nothing exists. It's like the hymn, I Sing the Mighty Power of God, says. "All that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care." That, perhaps, gets it across. We do not own ourselves. We are not, ultimately, free agents. We borrow life from God. We exist. We stand out of that which God is, an imperfect representation of Him. He holds us together, moment by moment. In Him we live and move and have our being.

Paul warns us "not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment" (Rom 12:3). Sound judgment would include this factor. We exist. God is, but we exist. Out of Him. So while you're thinking of complaining against your Maker about how He treats you (or doesn't treat you), perhaps you ought to warn yourself about that. Everything we have and are belongs to Him and is a gift from Him. That's actually pretty amazing.